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Sunday, August 31, 2008

It's the time of year for fairs. Sunday we headed to Blandford, for a peek at theirs.

Blandford is situated pretty high up in the hill country, and their fairground itself sits at the top of a hill. We parked next to this church, standing nobly by itself next to the fairground. The lady directing the parking asked if we were with the fiddlers when we pulled in. Fiddlers? I don't know what that was about, but it just added to the country flavor we were soon to be immersed in.

We made our way down the midway past a few small rides, past the games and the barkers, and to the main hall standing in the distance.

Inside the main hall, The Union Agricultural Hall, there were the usual produce and product of the local countryside on exhibit. Ribbons awarded to the best.

Blandford's is a real, old style, country fair. Very little frills, and much is as it has been for decade upon decade upon decade. At fairs like this, even the hay bails get awards.

The hall itself is a well built, well worn structure dating back to 1869. Many buildings here appear to be originals, from as far back as the 19th century. They've presided over many fairs, and hosted who knows how many fair-goers.

This small building, called Wyman Hall, had an art exhibit with local painters and photographers. Like most things at these fairs, they were judged and awarded ribbons. There was some good stuff in there, but unfortunately cameras weren't allowed in there...

We walked over to the horse competitions, then gave the livestock pens a look.

Few things on this planet are cuter than ducklings. This guy and his brothers were a little intimidated by all the attention from giant primates with their clicking plastic boxes.

Does anyone remember that strange Quiznos commercial that ran a few years back, with these things in it, playing guitars?

Ducks by day, masked crusaders by night.

They're actually Muscovy Ducks, from the central and south Americas. Domesticated by native Americans before Columbus arrived, they're an odd species that climb and roost in trees, and don't care too much for water...

Ellie the llama was a crowd favorite, and Ellie loves the crowd right back. I learned that llamas are not only raised for their very fine wool (I pet the thing and it is in fact pretty downy-soft), but they also are good protectors of the sheep, goats and other smaller animals on the farm...

This guy insisted we check out his wool, for comparison.

It was time for lunch, and we went over into a very old dining hall nearby. What could possibly have made this dinner of a barbecued half-chicken, large corn cob, baked potato, bread and a slice of fresh Blueberry pie possibly taste any better...? I don't know about you, but paying eight bucks for the country feast works for me...

We walked around a little bit afterwards, and wound out our visit with a look at a small Civil War encampment set up on one end. They had been shooting off the cannon periodically the whole time we were there.

Some old shell casings loaded with shot and shrapnel; quietly hinting at the horrific brutality of that (and yes, all) war.

One of the tents had some old Civil War era state-issued bank notes on display. (Quietly hinting at the brutality of that, and yes all, inflation).

This was a fine country fair, still preserving well the way things were, as do the farms of these hill towns. We're very lucky to still have them around...While we were eating, we overheard some local people next to us talking about the coming extension of Internet and cable to the town. Big news in a small town, and big changes are headed this way....

It was time to head out. We weren't done with the day, and were headed back to my own hometown, for a fair of a different type...

Thursday, August 28, 2008

We were in the mood for a little drive and a little easy wildlife viewing. To the Amherst end of the Norwottuck trail we go...

The sun was low when we arrived, making for some good silhouettes among the wetland trees, and exposing this Heron's perch.

He saw me trying to focus in on him, and knew the jig was up. He soon lifted off for some more secluded corner of the marsh. The green of the leaves on trees and bushes are finally starting to get a little worn looking, after a long hard summer of drenching rains and high humidity. And the duller, hardened flower colors abundant at this time of year have arrived; setting a subdued stage for autumn's coming burst of colors...

The tropic summer we had was especially kind to wetland areas like this one. Lily pads, weeds and other growth have thoroughly clogged up the shallow waters here. A couple ducks had their work cut out for them as they blazed a trail across the thick green soup...

Berries of all kinds are popping up, and the sweet smells of wild grapes fill the air in certain spots...

Small, bright orange 'Touch-Me-Nots' are easy to pick out of the somber tones of the marsh.

Kelly demonstrates their seed capsules' unusual characteristics...

We still had some time to explore, so we veered off the Norwottuck, and onto the K.C. Trail...

A short ways in, we came across a large slab of concrete, slowly being reclaimed by the green. Some heavily rusted husks of something remained scattered about. I had no clue what could have been here, but Kelly thought it might have had something to do with the nearby train tracks.

And in a minute, the trail crossed over the afore-mentioned tracks...

It was a nice little side trail, with lots of wildlife viewing possibilities. The trail is more immersed in the woods and wetlands than the wide paved Norwottuck trail. We'll have to come back earlier in the day, when the birds and such are more active...

Unexpectedly, the trail abruptly ends in suburban utopia.

Time to turn around.... night had begun to descend, and the Katydids were in full chorus, with ratchety calls much louder than you'd think their small bodies could generate.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I quickly changed out of my work clothes when I got home, started up the bike, and was soon motoring up to Northampton. I was intending to catch the remaining couple hours of the Transperformance 18 show, going on at the Pines Theater in Look Park.

The show had started about 4:00, but it was right about 6:30 when I headed out. I wasn't too worried about it, as I heard there was a slew of bands performing. I was sure I'd get to see my fill.

I showed up at the Pines Theater right around 7-ish, and paid the eight bucks to get in (the bands all volunteered their efforts, so the money went to further fund local arts).

It looked like a pretty good turnout, the theater was just about full.

I grabbed a drink (the price also for charity, I assumed) and staked out a spot to watch the show...

The group Spouse was winding up a U-2 performance as I walked out onto the grass.

Out came the Leah Randazzo Group, to get the crowd riled up and hopping with the soulful sounds of the Jackson Five.

I had a video clip of these guys, but erased accidentally, in a fit of space-making deletions on my memory card...(Aargh!)... It's too bad, they had the crowd moving...

The crowd now warmed up, it didn't take much to send everyone into a tizzy with Serum 114's great renditions of the B-52s. Rock Lobsta' anyone?

Darkness had completely fallen by the time the B-52's triumphantly walked off stage, and before the next band, came the 'Fem-n-Ems' (hope I got that right). They ripped up an Eminem rap song, turning it into a rallying cry for middle aged feminism.

It was weird, but funny, and the crowd seemed pretty appreciative.

Then came the next band, the famous Aloha SteamTrain, doing a fine tribute to glam-band T-Rex.

King Radio then came out after that, and did a few renditions of the complex music of ELO. By this time it was getting pretty chilly (autumn coming, you know), and I began thinking more about the cold ride home than the final couple bands coming up: Kate O'connor as K.D. Lang, and the band Drunk Stuntmen, who were going to do their much-touted version of the J. Geils Band.

I wanted to stick around until the end, but decided it was time to go. But after a final, warming dose of the funk, courtesy of the band Unit 7 doing up the band P-Funk:

The bands were all surprisingly good. The local talent we have here is immense; it was my first time at Transperformance but it won't be my last...